Half term will be here before we know it. And there’s just the small matter of a cost of living crisis to deal with too. So for those of us not getting away on a dream escape and looking for healthy, active ways to keep the kids occupied this half term, here are 7 low cost active ideas.
1. Go Scrambling!
My 8 year old son loves a scramble. I took him up Halls Fell Ridge a few days ago. But we started his scrambling much closer to home with small scrambles in the hills above Dovestone reservoir. Scrambling, for most kids, is far more fun than hiking. And it’s incredibly active. The UKC has a great guide on scrambling with kids and a quick Google will show you plenty of scrambling areas close to home.
2. Local Camping Trips
Brits love camping. In fact, almost half of us go every year. Camp sites can be a very cost effective way to holiday. Or North of the border in Scotland you are allowed to wild camp too. Whenever we’re camping, we’re outside a lot of the time, taking little walks and moving much more.
It’s seldom a wasted trip to get out and about and it’s always a big sense of adventure for the little ones.
3. Small Sided Football Games
Parents vs kids is always a fun football game. 2 v 2 is enough! And jumpers for goalposts is perfectly acceptable.
Always a firm favourite with our children and it can be done in the park or even the garden.
4. Playground Tour of Your Local Area
We tend to always stick with the same one or two playgrounds. So last half term we did a quick Google to find a list of all the playgrounds in our local area.
We made it our mission to hit 5 or 6 of them that week.
Not only did it keep the kids active and entertained, but it also helped us discover a brand new firm favourite park within 30 minutes of our house for future days out.
5. Learn Some New Moves
Kids obsessed with Tiktok? A solid rainy day activity is going through some of the viral dance trends on social media platforms and learning them all in the living room! Keeps them moving, keeps them entertained and it doesn’t matter what the weather is doing outside.
6. Den Building
Den building is such a cracking activity that can be done in any area of woodland. National Trust sites across the country sometimes have specific den building areas too. But just heading into your local woods or forest will often be sufficient to find a space to build a den.
Raining? No problem. The challenge just became to make a den keep you relatively dry. Take a picnic and make a day of it.
And a quick search on Youtube shows some mega den building techniques you can use to impress the kids.
7. Treasure Hunt Walking
Getting out for a walk is one of the best things for us, both in physical terms and in terms of our mental health and stress management.
But I get it. Sometimes persuading the kids to get out for a walk isn’t easy. For my 6 year old, I write up a challenge sheet based on our planned route with a list of things he has to spot or questions he has to answer (where the answers are found by walking around). There’s usually a prize at the end.
Keeps him engaged with the idea of walking.
Whatever you do…
However you spend your half term with little ones, enjoy the active time and fingers crossed for some passable weather at least!
